


Afterglow

by garbage_dono



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, F/M, Sexual Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 08:34:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16991616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garbage_dono/pseuds/garbage_dono
Summary: An unexpected quirk of Altean biology leads to an awkward moment during a mission briefing.





	Afterglow

**Author's Note:**

> S8 wrecked me in all the worst ways so have some painless shenanigans.

“Sorry I’m late – I was just-“

Allura froze in the doorway of the conference room as all eyes turned toward her. Not that she wasn’t used to that sort of thing, especially when she was a full thirty dobashes late for the latest debriefing with the Garrison. But the look on the humans’ faces went from frustration to surprise to total and utter confusion in the space of about three ticks, and now they were all staring at her like she’d waltzed in completely naked.

And perhaps her uniform was a bit…skewed. But that was hardly her fault. And hardly _that_ noticeable.

“…getting…dressed,” she finished, lamely. Quietly. “Ah…is everything alright?”

“Uhh…” Pidge tried and failed to pick up her jaw off the floor, her gaze shifting toward Hunk and then back over the Lance before settling on her again. “Are you…feeling okay, Princess?”

Allura blinked. “Fine. Why do you ask?”

She tugged at her collar. Surely Lotor’s teeth hadn’t wandered _too_ far up her neck, had they?

To her left she could just barely hear some of them muttering amongst themselves: “Is that a…normal Altean thing?”

“Never seen it before.”

“Do you think she even _knows_ -“

Self-consciousness wasn’t like her, nor was it becoming. Especially not when she was here with a job in mind. “ _Excuse me,_ ” she huffed, and all whispering ceased. “I already apologized for my tardiness. If it’s all the same, I believe we have much to discuss.”

Shiro cleared his throat just a bit _too_ loudly. Keeping his gaze a bit _too_ intently focused on the holo-screen in front of him as he said, “She’s right – Kolivan, where were you on the deep-space reconnaissance?”

“Of course,” Kolivan nodded. As calm as ever. “Our operatives returned from the outskirts of the quadrant without any issues, but-“

“Is _nobody_ gonna bring this up?” Lance blurted, and Allura turned to him with a huff. “I’m sorry, but it…are we seriously just not gonna-“

“ _Lance,_ ” Shiro said warningly.

“You’re seeing this too, right?”

Pidge nudged him hard in the ribs. “Dude…”

“Lance, what _is_ it?” Allura finally sighed. She supposed it was better to deal with it now rather than later. “And perhaps we can figure out why it’s so very distracting that we can’t move on with this meeting.”

But it was Hunk who spoke up next, a bit more diplomatically than his compatriot: “Um…Princess…you’re, ah…well, you’re _glowing._ ”

Allura blinked at him. “Well, that’s…very kind of you, but-“

“No, he means you’re _literally_ glowing,” Keith added. “And like…all over. Not just your face.”

She reached up to press a her fingertips against her cheek, feeling nothing but warm skin under her touch. Well, perhaps she was a bit more…relaxed than usual. For obvious reasons. Obvious to _her,_ at least, though she certainly hoped not to everyone else.

Unless…oh no.

Her cheeks grew hot under her fingers.

“ _Is_ it a normal Altean thing?” Lance asked. “You’re not sick or something right?”

“N-no, I’m not-“ Stars help her, she hadn’t though it would be so _obvious._ All of her research had suggested that humans couldn’t even _pick up_ on these wavelengths, but maybe her information was outdated. “It’s just…it’s nothing…nothing to worry about. If we could just move on with the meeting-“

“My apologies for being late-“ The doors slid open behind her, and Lotor rushed in with his armor haphazardly fastened and his hair uncharacteristically tangled. “I was ah…going over some last-minute documents before the-“

He paused in the doorway.

“Holy shit,” Pidge breathed. “It _is_ an Altean thing.”

“Excuse me?”

Ancients help her, it was even more noticeable on him – a steady lavender glow covering the apples of his cheeks and curving all the way up to his temples. Even extending past his cuffs down along his wrists. It made the residual flush on his face stand out even more, making him look almost ethereal. Or feverish. Maybe both.

She grabbed him, pushing him back toward the door and putting her back to the rest of the room. “Zephyrbaum,” she said.

Lotor’s brow pinched. “What?”

“ _Zephyrbaum._ You’ve heard of it, haven’t you?”

“The term…sounds familiar, but…”

Allura let out a groan. “When an Altean is…mated. After…after being _intimate…_ sometimes it causes one’s quintessence to-“

His eyes went wide, as if in realization. “Ah,” he said. “Now I remember.” As he looked at her, he finally seemed to notice the glow on her skin, and the flush in his face darkened. “But surely…surely _I’m_ not-“

“You are,” she told him through gritted teeth.”

“Oh…” He looked past her at the room full of their allies. All waiting for an explanation. “Oh dear.”

Oh dear was _right._ “Princess,” Shiro called. “Are you alright-“

“ _Yes!_ ” Her voice sounded sickly sweet and far too loud. It echoed off the walls of the room. Every seemed intent on looking anywhere but at her. Kolivan coughed.

“Zephyrbaum is only said to occur when a person is incredibly _thoroughly_ satisfied,” Lotor mused, and then he smirked. “You do seem to have quite the intense glow about you, my dear.“

“This isn’t the _time,_ “ she huffed, and for good measure added, “And you’re glowing just as brightly.”

Before he could reply, she turned on her heel to face the room. “Now that we’re all here,” she sighed, “Can we please-“

The doors slammed open again, and Allura was all but ready to _strangle_ whoever stepped inside until the moment she locked eyes with-

“Coran?”

“Sorry, sorry!” he said, face bright red and…glowing. Allura stared. “Just got held up…running a few diagnostics. Yes, that’s it…”

Dayak sidled in right behind him, and Allura could practically _hear_ Lotor’s jaw hit the floor. “Close your mouth,” Dayak told him with a huff as she brushed past him. “A face like that is unbecoming of an emperor.”

To his credit, he managed that much, though he seemed almost in a daze as he walked over to the table and took his seat. Allura felt the same. Like this was all a bizarre dream.

For a moment she looked across the table and caught Coran’s eye. They stared at each other, not saying a word, and she watched as his gaze darted from her to Lotor and back again. For a moment – just a moment – he opened his mouth to speak.

Then seemed to think better of it and closed it once again.

“Sooo…just to be clear,” Hunk finally said, “This… _is_ an Altean thing?”

At the very same moment, Coran, Allura, and Lotor all joined in to answer, “ _Yes._ ”


End file.
